Caitriona Balfe has delivered a crushing blow to Outlander fans as she admits the eighth and final season is 'on hold' due to the writer's strike.
The Irish actress has played Claire Fraser on the hit Starz show since 2013, alongside Sam Heughan, who plays her on-screen husband Jamie Fraser. During a press event for Outlander season seven, which will air later this week, Caitriona admitted that production of season eight has been halted for the time being.
It was previously announced that Outlander would end after the eighth season, as Starz would focus on the series prequel Blood of my Blood which tells the love story of Jamie's parents.
Speaking about the potential Droughtlander between season seven and eight, Caitriona said: “Well, we had a date. And now with the writers strike, who knows? So we have to just wait and see."
She continued to Radio Times: "That's obviously a big thing that's going on at the moment stateside and that may change things. But you know, it's too early to start speculating about that.”
Speaking about the show coming to an end after a decade of working on it, Caitriona admitted: "It’s been amazing. It's really strange thinking that this time next year or whatever, it'll be finished and that'll be it, it'll be a chapter done in my life.
"I'm going to definitely struggle with that because it's been so great. It'll be sad to say goodbye to it."
The 43-year-old continued: “It's bittersweet, it really is. I think, in some ways, I feel like we've said as much as we can say with these characters and we've sort of brought them to this point in their lives where it feels like it's the right time to say goodbye to them. I think having season eight will give us a real opportunity to sort of finish it properly.
"But at the same time, it's going be so sad. I've loved playing this character, I've loved being on this show, I love my co-workers. Most of our crew has been with us since day one."
Outlander series 1-6 are available to stream on LIONSGATE+ in the UK. Outlander Season 7 premieres Friday, June 16 on Starz.
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